Home by Sea

Photo Credit: 'meko'

In light of my last post, I felt that a brief thought on the future was needed.

For a long time, I dreamt of a home that was mine. As a little girl, when people would ask me what I wanted from life, I would always say to them that I'd like my own home, a nice house where my family could visit and I could make them tea and cake. That innocent, little girl's dream evolved overtime but would eventually extinguish itself with the onset of young adulthood, as the reality of being unable to buy my own house was all too real.

But since I met my husband, and especially as we started our family, we would both strive together for a home that was ours. Oddly enough, for a long time I had always imagined that home being in London but given the way this town has changed over the years -- which you can read about here -- my heart is pulling me outward. Our decision to leave London behind has been spurred on by personal and unfortunate circumstances but mostly by choice and of dreams born anew.

We will be leaving behind some wonderful friends and family in London, and moving far away from them has been a very difficult and emotional hurdle to conquer in coming to our decision. Needless to say, it was a decision not made lightly. But as I have always said, this was never goodbye; rather, it is more of a see you soon. With a generation lost, it's entirely up to us now.

Looking forward, in the greater scheme of things, we are all young and healthy with the opportunity to look ahead in life and have a chance to better our predecessors' example. Us Storms are a family of five and I doubt that London would have contained us for long. England is a beautiful country and we plan to do our very best to see our new little part of it with fresh eyes. To enjoy life. We'll be doing so and wishing that loved ones were still here on this journey with us, remembering that they'll always be with us in some small way and knowing how proud and at peace they would have been in seeing where we end up gives me rest. The future looks bright on the horizon. I have my Mr. Storm in one hand and see our children walk forth in front and this promise couldn't have been more worthwhile.

If there was one last gift that my late parents gave me; it was the chance to just let go and dream.

Bringing Some Life to 'Jack & The Beanstalk'

This quiet and restful Sunday morning started of with some much hankered for dryness (having rained much of yesterday evening), which was accompanied by some short lived sunshine and momentary warmth and with nothing much on my 'to do' list I decided that the girls and I would focus of some academic recapping on the school week just gone. My eldest daughter, (E), was all levels of enthusiasm, as usual and spent the entire day conjuring up an array of suffixes to best describe her daily encounters with her friends in the school lunch hall. And then there is L, my youngest daughter who really does takes things in her own mellow pace and only commits to learning as and when she is inspired to do so. So when the opportunity arose  to do a little seed planting in relation to the studied text of 'Jack and the Beanstalk', she jumped at the task of writing out some instructions and hoped dearly to see just one of Jack's beans sprout. We replicated what L remembered doing in class and here's how it turned out.

1. Firstly, we had to put four black turtle beans into a glass as we recounted the events that took place in the story of 'Jack and the Beanstalk', a book that L had studied in class.

2. Then we tore up two small buds of cotton wool and gently dropped the pieces into the glass and on top of the beans.

3. Next, I was told that we had to pour in some water and there was some dispute over the quantity but we settled on just an egg cup full and L promised to keep a very watchful eye and make sure that it didn't dry out.

4. Once the water matter was over with, we placed the glass on the window sill in direct sunlight (we're obviously hoping to get some more of that sun).

L loved this added activity as part of her homework and it really helps to reinforce learning in a home environment for younger children; it captures their imaginations and gets them recalling events and information they have acquired at school. It gives them something to think about and look forward to as they wait for the first signs of sprouting.

The Early Kiss of Spring Calls for Tulips

Seeing as we have only just recently had our first official day of Spring, I realise this post couldn't have been better timed. As the days get a little brighter and the chill in the air begins to slowly fade away - with it - we are greeted by the early blooms of the jolly yellow daffodils and the delicateness of the seasons first tulip blooms.

Not long ago, a dear friend of ours came to visit with her parents and they brought with them bunches of beautiful tulips (red, pink and purple) and, of course, some delicious Romanian treats for the kids. My son immediately went for the 'pufuleti' and the girls beamed with delight at the flowers and wanted to put them into some water straight away. Having placed them gently in the kitchen, I found three slimline vases; definitely not wide enough to fit all of the flowers. And so this is the story of how re-purposing old sauce jars and reusing them as vases became an ingenious way to add a rustic touch of sophisticated elegance to ones home.

I had a few empty glass sauce jars saved to one corner, which were all ready to be thrown out into our weekly recycling box but what better way to recycle something than to make second use of an item that I was just going to get rid of anyway. I removed the labels, cleaned and washed them out and put them to some crafty good use; if you're someone who likes having cut flowers liven up your living space, then perhaps you might consider this idea. An excellent little tip found via a quick Google search revealed that rubbing some peanut butter will help to remove the stubborn glue left behind from the labels on the jars (be sure to soak jars in warm water first).

It's such a great way to make productive use of the things you have around the home, whether it's something you plan on recycling or just throwing out, think of how you can reuse different items?

Spring in a jar

Reusing glass jars is not a new thing; I'm sure it has been done plenty but the only reason the thought occurred to me in the first place was because I came up short on actual vases and so I was forced to think outside the box and make do with what I could find around the house. I am really pleased with my results.

Play around with your floral arrangements and perhaps try displaying them on an unconventionally shaped wooden chopping board. The contrast of the tulips against the grain of the wood will help to create a warm natural look and look beautiful as any centrepiece.

Try it yourself

As this Year Closes, Another Begins.

As another year comes to a close and with the New Year upon us, I can’t help but wonder where all the time has gone. The kids are growing fast and in many ways out-pacing the best of us. Our eldest daughter, Eden, who very recently turned five years old, began a new chapter of her life. School! She has been there for three months now and has settled so nicely that during these Christmas holidays, the one thing she is looking forward to most of all is to get back to school. You gotta love this kid – how many children do you know who spend their holidays waiting for school to start. I told her she has two weeks of fun to spend at home with Mummy, Daddy and her little sister and brother. And still, every morning she wakes up and asks me if there is school today. In fact this morning she rather frustratingly declared, “Mummy, this is taking too long. My school doors have been closed forever!”

She is an amazing kid. I cannot believe she is five already and so beautiful. She has become so mature in her mannerisms and talks to me in such a serious tone that it is hard to think of her as a Reception student. Sometimes, I can imagine myself having a real grown-up conversation with this young girl.

We bought her a little Kodak Digital Camera for her birthday, and for Christmas, a number of frames to fill once she masters her budding photography skills, which are coming along so very nicely. Another treat for her on her birthday is to put up the family tree and decorate it with her sister, Lydia. Although, this year it went up a little early as the girls were just so excited about the idea of getting the Yuletide celebrations moving.

Winter Tree: Whites, golds and silvers.

Our family tree has had a bit of a journey over the years. We first bought it back in 2009 as our very first family tree, which stood in a corner adorned with a few simple baubles (most of which have actually survived). I've always been an advocate of the artificial tree; I much prefer them over real ones, no needles and to be very honest it has more to do with my own personal choice and principles. As lovely as they look, I really don't see the point in destroying trees only to watch them slowly degrade and die.

Admiration: Little man loves his face.

Now, four years on it has grown with us as a little family of five with each year something new being placed on the once sparsely decorated tree. I think it looks rather beautiful and fitting in our small home. But I can’t take all the credit; my girls did a fantastic job and were very helpful in adding the finishing touches to our rather Pagan-centric tree.

Happy Yuletide: The Storm family's tree.

2013 has been a productive year – I couldn't have achieved half of the things I have this year if it weren't for my amazing husband, Kade. A remarkable man and an astounding father, who does the hard jobs and takes on the difficult tasks ahead so I don’t have to shoulder the burden all of the time. I've gotten some well earned rest and relaxation this winter... Thank you my love and life.

May 2014 be even better as our family evolves into an even greater version of itself. I love my family and I am grateful for them every single day!

Hope you've all had a perfect Christmas and have an even greater New Year!

And for those of you still hoping for snow before the year is out...